Brighton or West Brom to face Derby in FA Cup Fifth Round
If Brighton and Hove Albion can overcome West Bromwich Albion in their FA Cup fourth round replay, then they will face another Championship promotion chaser in the shape of Derby County at the Amex in round five.
Frank Lampard’s Rams sit sixth in the second tier and have developed something of a reputation in terms of knocking Premier Division sides out of cup competitions so far this season.
They’ve already accounted Southampton in the FA Cup while in the Carabao Cup, they eliminated Manchester United at Old Trafford before pressing Lampard’s former club Chelsea all the way in a 3-2 defeat at Stamford Bridge.
There have been three previous FA Cup meetings between the Albion and Derby. In the 1960-61 season, the sides were paired together at the third round stage with goals from Ian McNeill, Bobby Laverick and Dennis Windross securing a 3-1 win for the hosts at the Goldstone Ground.
The other two clashes came in the fifth round in the 1945-46 season, when ties were played over two legs. Top division County had one of the most powerful forward lines in the country at that point in time and it duly showed as they won 4-1 at the Goldstone in the first leg in front of 23,456, the biggest home crowd for 12 years.
Four days later and it was an even more resounding win for the Rams as they hit an unanswered six at the Baseball Ground to win the tie 10-1 on aggregate. Derby would go onto lift the trophy that year, beating Charlton Athletic 4-1 in the final at Wembley.
Speaking of Wembley, the chances of a less-fashionable side reaching the final this season are increasing by the day. Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are all already out of the competition and one of Chelsea or Manchester United will follow them after they were “drawn to face each other in round five.
For that reason, many Albion fans will hope that Chris Hughton begins taking the competition a little more seriously now, starting with that replay against the Baggies.
With only a couple more wins needed to assure Premier League survival, Brighton are probably looking at their best opportunity to make an FA Cup final since 1983 and for that reason, the Albion boss must surely consider naming a full strength side at the Hawthorns next week.
We saw in Saturday’s0-0 draw at the Amex that Darren Moore and West Brom have only one thing on their mind and that is promotion. Moore played four academy players and if he does so again next week, the strongest Albion side possible should be able to book their place in round five and a meeting with Derby on the weekend of February 16th.
And from there, who knows?
